Re: A response to Walt

[Bob <mantic@brightok.net>]

"...Bob's view hews much closer to that of fiction writers."

Heh. Not surprising. I have been working as a writer in various media
for some years. But does this mean that fiction writing instincts are
invalid here? All the other forms I have encountered, and worked with,
suffer the same pitfalls. All work by the same approach.

	For example, cartooning involves a pictographic language (and
structure) that weeds narration to the dust. It is possible, in extreme
cases, to tell entire stories without the use of a single word. But no
less it is still fiction, and readers have the same expectations.

	Amateur comics often becomes so busy and buried in the mechanics of the
format that it fails to convey anything resembling a story, no matter
how riddled the pages are with dialogue and narration. This even happens
with some professional work on the superhero end of the industry, when
publishers and artists decide that story is emergent and writers are
obsolete.

	Perhaps you guys are right this time. The inclusion of the reader isn't
a new notion; it seems to be one of the oldest. Yet, now the story must
yeild to the player's whim. And if that cannot be done while maintaining
the emotions and forces pushing plot forward, and if the player cannot
become so involved in her role that she will pursue it, then maybe the
devices of literature offer salvation.

	Anyone here ever play tabletop roleplaying games?


					--Bob